The present invention relates generally to badges and more particularly to badge holding devices.
An officer (e.g., a police officer or a corrections officer) is typically issued a badge as a means to authenticate his/her position of employment. The badge of an officer is typically manufactured of metal in an ornamental design (e.g., a star) with the title of the officer displayed thereon.
An officer often wears his/her badge in plain view in order to readily provide others with the proper identification of the position of the officer. Specifically, a fastening device is typically mounted onto the rear surface of the badge which, in turn, enables the badge to be removably mounted onto an exterior layer of the officer's clothing, such as a jacket. The fastening device is commonly in the form of an elongated sharpened pin which is pivotally mounted onto the back surface of the badge, the elongated sharpened pin being releasably retained in place by a clasp which is also mounted onto the back surface of the badge. In this capacity, the sharpened pin can be pierced through the exterior layer of clothing and retained by the clasp in order to secure the badge onto the exterior layer of clothing.
Pinning a badge onto an exterior layer of clothing has been found to be undesirable. Specifically, an officer routinely wears different articles of clothing. As a result, the badge must be repeatedly mounted onto different articles of clothing depending upon what the officer is wearing on a particular day.
As a result, devices for holding badges (also referred to herein simply as badge holders) are well known and widely used in the art. In use, an officer maintains his/her badge pinned onto a badge holder which, in turn, can be easily mounted onto the officer so as to readily display the badge for viewing.
One type of badge holder which is well known and widely used in the art comprises a closed-loop chain which can be suspended around the neck of an officer. As such, an officer can readily wear the closed-loop chain as a necklace with the badge disposed against the chest of the officer. As can be appreciated, a badge holder of this type can be easily placed around and removed from the neck of the officer, which is highly desirable;
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,076 there is disclosed a badge holder apparatus for displaying information pertaining to the wearer's official position, comprising a first backing member to which a badge selectively attaches; a second backing member which is connected to the first backing member; a necklace member which is operably associated with the second backing member; a first plate member which is disposed along an exposed surface of the second backing member and having information printed thereon; and wherein the first backing member and the second backing member are substantially rigid.
Although well-known and widely used in commerce, conventional badge holders typically suffer from a notable drawback. Specifically, it has been found that people, on occasion, manufacture counterfeit badges or unlawfully acquire an authentic badge. As can be appreciated, the ability of unauthorized people to represent themselves as legitimate officers poses a significant safety threat.
As a result, officers are routinely required to present an identification card in conjunction with a badge in order to more securely authenticate his/her position of employment. By cross-referencing the information imprinted onto the badge with the information listed on the identification card, an organization can more confidently authenticate whether a person is an authorized official of the organization, which is highly desirable.
Requiring an officer to provide an identification card in addition to a badge introduces a notable drawback. Specifically, the identification card of an officer is not typically presented in plain view of others. Rather, the identification card of an officer is typically stored in a pocket of the officer. As a result, when required to display an identification card, an officer must reach inside his/her pocket to withdraw the identification card, which can be considerably cumbersome, time-consuming and/or dangerous (e.g., when an officer is using both hands to restrain someone).